PASL San Diego Sockers

Sockers Game Notes vs. Bay Area

Published on January 18, 2014 under Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL)
San Diego Sockers News Release


Bay Area Rosal (5-6) at San Diego Sockers (7-3)

DATE: Saturday, January 18th, 2014

PLACE: Valley View Casino Center

TIME: 7:05pm

BROADCAST: AmericaOneSports.com

PLEASE VISIT PASLSOCCER.COM FOR UP-TO-DATE STANDINGS

SOCKERS LOOK TO REGROUP AGAINST BAY AREA

The San Diego Sockers (7-3) meet the Bay Area Rosal (5-6) on Saturday night in the first-ever meeting between the two sides in Professional Arena Soccer League play. The Rosal were the champions of the PASL-Premier, the feeder league to the PASL, in 2012-13 and were elevated to the top tier this season. The Sockers open the weekend 11/2 games behind first-place Las Vegas in the Pacific Division, while the Rosal are 1/2 game out of playoff position in fourth place on the table.

LAST GAME: LEGENDS 12, SOCKERS 9

San Diego's seven game winning streak came to a crashing halt at the hands of their Pacific Division rivals, as the Las Vegas Legends built a 7-1 second quarter lead before hanging on for a 12-9 victory at the Valley View Casino Center. Ricardo "Ricardinho" Sobriera had two goals and four assists to pace the Legends, while Eric Guzman added a first half hat trick and four goals overall. Anthony Medina's two goal/three point night was not enough to prevent the Sockers' third loss of the season.

SOCKERS SIGN JONATAN SANTOS

The Sockers have added to an injury-ravaged defensive line with the signing of defender Jonatan Santos, a 29-year-old MISL veteran from Brazil. Santos spent the last six seasons with the MISL Milwaukee Wave, earning a pair of championships. An ACL injury suffered last year prevented Santos from playing in Milwaukee this season, but he has been cleared by the Sockers' medical staff and will be in Saturday's lineup.

ANOTHER RED FOR EDDIE

San Diego defender Eduardo Velez was shown his second red card of the season for an elbow against Las Vegas and will be unavailable for Saturday night's game against Bay Area Rosal. No further penalty has been announced by the PASL.

CHILES CHASING GOAL LEAD

Three-time defending PASL MVP Kraig Chiles is within two goals of the PASL goal scoring lead entering play on Saturday. His 22 goals in 10 games trails Las Vegas striker Ivan Campos, who has 24 goals but 12 games played. Chicago's Efrain Martinez (22 goals in 9 games) and Monterrey's Erick Tovar (22 goals in 12 games) are also within striking range of the Golden Boot.

A COSTLY LOSS TO LAS VEGAS

Normally it's a visitor to Las Vegas who leaves with their pockets empty. Last Saturday it was the visitor from Las Vegas who left San Diego with all the chips. The Legends' win over San Diego on January 11th set negative PASL records for the Sockers for goals allowed (12) and biggest margin of loss (3). In addition, while the Sockers and Legends split their season series 1-1, late Las Vegas goals against a sixth attacker formation allowed the Legends to capture the season aggregate 17-16, earning the tiebreaker in the Pacific Division. The loss snapped a 35-game Pacific Division winning streak for the Sockers.

SIGNS OF LIFE FOR POWER PLAY

After a miserable start to the season, the Sockers power play is starting to rev up and demonstrate the quality that led the PASL last season. San Diego converted all three power play opportunities against the Legends and has now lit the lamp on seven of their last ten power play chances. On the season the Sockers are now 11-for-33 (33%) on the man advantage, tied for 11th in the league in efficiency.

MARTIN, McNELEY REMAIN OUT

Sockers defenders Scott Martin (head) and Evan McNeley (toe) will not be in the lineup for San Diego this weekend. With Velez down by red card, SD is without three of four top defenders.

RESULTS NOT MATCHING CROWDS

In their fifth season of PASL action, the Sockers are setting new highs in the stands and new lows on their home field. San Diego has set a new high for attendance for the fifth straight season, averaging 4,282 fans per game at the Valley View Casino Center. Tonight's game on Military Appreciation Night should set a new Sockers PASL attendance record (more info below). However, after winning their first 36 home contests in their first four seasons, San Diego dropped their first two home games in 2013-14 and has accrued a 2-3 home record so far, losing in front of their three biggest crowds of the season.

TIME TO TEST THOSE LEGS

The game of indoor soccer is punishing on the bodies of the professional athletes who pay the sport, and there is no bigger test than playing on back-to-back days. The Sockers will play two games within a 24 hour span this weekend, traveling up I-15 on Sunday afternoon to take on the Ontario Fury at 4pm. It's the first of back-to-back "back-to-back" weekends for the Sockers, as the team travels to Mexico next weekend to play Saltillo on Saturday and Monterrey on Sunday.

ROVIRA GONE, NOT FORGOTTEN

Sockers midfielder Diego Rovira has been a consistent defender and streaky scorer in the San Diego lineup over the past four years, but a new job opportunity in the Bay Area has forced Diego to leave Southern California, limiting his practice appearances with the Sockers. The team will not travel Diego for this weekend or next weekend's games but Rovira remains among 20 active players on the San Diego roster.

BREAKOUT GAME FOR HUGHES

A former PASL MVP, Jeff Hughes has been asked to sacrifice personal stats for the team good in San Diego so far in 2013-14, playing back line defense after lighting up the scoreboard as a midfielder in Cincinnati. Injuries have forced the Sockers into some lineup changes, however, and Hughes took advantage against Las Vegas with his best scoring game wearing the Sockers shield. Hughes saw power play time for only the second game in a San Diego uniform and contributed a power play goal and assist as part of a two goal, three point night against Vegas. On the season Hughes has four goals and four assists (eight points) in eight games.

MEDINA HEATING UP

Anthony Medina (Valhalla High) has netted four goals and an assist in the past two games, giving him nine for the season and 60 goals in his 71 game PASL career.

MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT IN SAN DIEGO

The Sockers are honoring the men and women who serve in the United States Armed Forces on Saturday night with an unprecedented giveaway. With the help of the Valley View Casino Center, the Sockers have donated all 7,000 upper deck tickets to Saturday's game to military families, and anyone who can produce an active/retired/dependent military ID at the VVCC box office on game night. Over 4,500 tickets were distributed through various military outlets in San Diego County this week. In addition, the Sockers are wearing camouflage uniforms for the first time in franchise history. A silent auction has been taking place online and continues at the arena through halftime of Saturday's game, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the Seal-NSW Family Foundation.

SOCKERS GAMES BROADCAST FREE ON AMERICAONESPORTS.COM ALL YEAR

The San Diego Sockers will have all of their games broadcast live for the fourth consecutive season, and the franchise has taken the additional step of making all of its online video broadcasts, home and road, available for free on the PASL's online partner AmericaOneSports.com. Other PASL games are also available at AmericaOne for an $8 per game or $90 season pass fee, but all Sockers games will be shown free of charge. In addition, every Sockers game will have an audio simulcast streamed live and archived on the Sockers' Livestream channel. Craig Elsten returns for his fifth season as the voice of the Sockers, joined by a rotating group of Sockers veterans for color commentary on home games.

OPPONENT'S PROFILE: BAY AREA ROSAL (5-6)

The champions of the PASL-Premier (the PASL's feeder league) in 2012-13, the Bay Area Rosal made the jump to the top tier in 2013-14 and got off to a highly competitive start. Injuries and team defections have seen the Rosal drop three of their last four games to fall out of playoff position. The lineup Bay Area is fielding on Saturday is missing eight of Rosal's top ten scorers including their two best, midfielder Emrah Klimenta (20 goals, 6 assists) and forward Manolo Pina (11 goals, 8 assists). Six rookies will make their PASL debut in tonight's game in Rosal's starting fourteen. The entire Rosal lineup has combined for 13 goals, 10 assists and 23 points in PASL play this season. Former Turlock keeper Javier Pedroza (2-3, 6.99) starts in goal.

Check out the San Diego Sockers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Professional Arena Soccer League Stories from January 18, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central